Thursday, March 12, 2015

Getting to the end by Leann Harris

Writing is a unique experience. No two writers write the
same way. There are those of us who are plotters, and those of us who are pantsers,
and various combinations in between. I’m
a plotter. I want to know what is going happen to my characters once I’ve
written the first three chapters and
synopsis. If I decide to drive to Little
Rock from Denver, I’d look at a map and
find what roads I needed to take. I just wouldn’t hop in my car and started
driving. My plot is my map.

The book I’m working on now has decided to take a life of
its own, which I’m not real happy about. I followed the plot, but one of the minor characters
did something I hadn’t planned. I kept writing, thinking I’d fix it in the next
draft. The black moment was supposed to happen for the hero and heroine in the hospital.

But it didn’t.

I thought I’d
gone way off the mark, but I kept writing. Write it, then you can fix it.

So as I rushed to the end of the book, that plot point my minor
character had changed came into the play and tied up a lot of strings in the
plot. I sent up a thanks to Heaven. I finished
this book as a pantser. I’m surprised I still have hair, but the book came
together. I didn’t like how it happened, but I liked how the book ended. I now have a clearer picture of how the other half lives. I
don’t want to do it again, but you have
my admiration.